Kennington: the Centre of London

Kennington: the Centre of London

Your reasons for looking at this blog probably already mean that like me you feel that there is something rather special about Kennington.

When asked I always say that I live in the heart of London. It’s always been easy to pinpoint my location to strangers by a quick reference to being located South of the river, just South of the South Bank, opposite the Houses of Parliament. Throw in the fact that we are next door to the real home of Cricket – The Oval – then most people with a reasonable understanding of London can normally place it.

Well, the fact is that did we are actually at the geometric centre of London – and it turns out that it’s beside Lambeth North Tube station.

In 2014 Tom Hoban pinpointed the exact centre of using AutoCAD software.  Using a map with exact borders determined by Ordnance Survey, he was able to pinpoint the location to a claimed accuracy of 40cm -The true Centre of London.

The exact point is at E 531331.025, N179645.831  Lat 51Deg,30′ 1.806956″  Lon -0Deg, 6′ 33.458418″. Which in fact turns out to be Greet House, off Frazier Street


Advance to

What is more, if further proof was needed, then the Ordnance Survey have also confirmed the same location as the site of the GO Square on a Monopoly Board.

So there you have it – Proof if ever it was needed


London’s ‘Zero Mile’ marker

The official Centre of London is however next to the equestrian statue of King Charles I that sits on a traffic island just south of Trafalgar Square in London, here there is a plaque bearing the inscription:

On the site now occupied by the statue of King Charles was erected the original Queen Eleanor’s Cross, a replica of which stands in front of Charing Cross station. Mileages from London are measured from the site of the original cross.

By this monument is the point from which all distances to the capital are measured, and marks the former site of the original Charing Cross.